The Altoona Redevelopment Authority Friday approved a concept plan for the former Garfield Elementary School tract in Fifth Ward calling for construction of three single-family homes and a green space lot that could include playground equipment.

The authority plans to develop the tract as the owner, hiring a builder or builders to construct the homes via a request for proposals, then selling the homes and reinvesting any surplus (the equivalent of profit for a private organization) in further authority projects, to help the authority become self-sustaining.

The authority is developing the Garfield tract as owner so that it can most easily use the remaining uncommitted $757,000 from the city’s $39.6 million American Rescue Plan Act grant before the end-of-2026 deadline for spending it.

EADS engineer Dan Byers recommended the three-house and green-space plan, rather than a four-house plan that would not have included the green space, because of limitations connected with a large retaining wall that borders the corner of the property.

If that corner lot would have become the site of a house, rather than the green space, the owner of that house would have had responsibility for maintenance of the retaining wall, Byers said.

The four-house configuration would also have required construction of a street through the property, which would have shrunk the available green space in the tract, while adding street maintenance costs for the city, if the city were to eventually take it over, Byers said.

Byers will flesh out the three-house plan to create a design for the tract development — one that will need to go through land development reviews by the Blair County Planning Commission and the city Planning Commission, as well as a review by the Blair County Conservation District.

The design can be done without worry about setbacks, based on the zero-lot-line rules that should apply.

The authority will need to be aggressive in scheduling the development efforts for the tract at 14th Avenue and 20th Street, officials said.

To speed the process, the city will “expedite” departmental approvals, said City Manager Christopher McGuire.

Special meetings outside their regular schedules may also be necessary for the Planning Commission and the authority itself, according to officials.

Advertising the RFPs prior to approval of design could also save time.

The hope is for construction to begin in July.

One tactic to ensure the money is spent before the end of the year could be to pay a builder before the work is complete, although officials plan to check to be sure that is OK.

After the ARPA money runs out, the authority will pay for the remaining costs of the Garfield project.

The authority approved a contract with a geotechnical firm for borings and diggings to determine the nature of the material on the site, to help guide the initial elements of construction.

That might not have been necessary if the plan had been to dig out basements for the homes, but the likelihood is that the homes will be built slab-on-grade, officials said.

Multiple upcoming projects

Eminent domain papers have been filed for a blighted brick house on the 1800 block of Fifth Avenue that the authority wants to renovate, and whose owners haven’t been responsive, despite many attempts by the city at making contact.

The documents are in the process of being served to the owner and the property lienholders, said authority solicitor Patrick Fanelli Friday. If all goes according to plan, the property will be in the authority’s possession around the end of February, after expiration of a 30-day waiting period, Fanelli said. The authority would likely pay for some preparatory work, then float a request for proposals to secure a builder interested in renovating the structure.

The authority’s “next big rehab” is likely to be a top-and-bottom duplex on the 1900 block of Pine Avenue that the authority bought recently for $15,000 — with some of that money going for tax liens, rather than to the prior owner. Blight Manager Josh Kaufman arranged for the purchase by simply knocking on doors around the property and locating the son of the owner, who turned out to be willing to make the transaction. “I got lucky,” Kaufman said.

That sort of employee initiative can help the authority expand its efforts to avoid demolition of blighted properties in favor of renovation, an effort that requires getting control of those properties before they are too far gone, officials said. The Pine Avenue duplex is on three lots, and there may be room to construct a new house on the ground, officials said.

The authority plans to buy the former McAleer’s plumbing shop building on Chestnut Avenue downtown for $100,000, so that the structure can be turned into a hybrid development. The plan is for a commercial use on the ground floor and an apartment upstairs.

A house on the 300 block of Wopsononock Avenue that the authority obtained and sold to a builder to rehabilitate is finished and for sale, officials said.

The authority Friday also approved a contract with EADS for creation of a concept plan to develop the Cricket Knoll area, which is along Juniata Gap Road and Cherry Avenue. The tract was partially developed decades ago.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.